This week's question requires us to address how a blog differs from a message board. In my opinion, blogs are much more personal than message boards. Because of this I have never really associated them with use in my classroom. When K-State developed its wiki and blog platform I was fascinated and began thinking about ways in which I could incorporate the technology into my classroom next summer when I teach my Women and the Politics of Fashion course. I am hoping this course will show me how I might effectively use the technology and still keep blogs more personal. Witte (2007) discussed a student who felt that writing on her computer was different than writing in school. Her resultant project, the Talkback Project, reinforced the desire student's possess to make their voices heard in a more creative way than they are typically able to do in the classroom environment. Yet, Witte's project was not without flaws as she discovered when the school administrators demanded its cessation.
Technology makes us vulnerable. This is a hard lesson we often learn in inconvenient ways. I think about Dr. Kang's directive to not post identifying information in our blogs if we do not want others outside of the course to know our personal information. His advice implies that our use of the blog for educational reasons places us in a space of vulnerability outside of the classroom. While I do not see this as being an issue for many adult learners, I do see this as a major issue in classrooms with younger students who may not be quite as cognizant of, or even care about, security risks to their person if they divulge too much personal information over the internet.
Outside of vulnerability, blogs also requite access to technology, something which may not be available to everyone. However, as adult learners it is more likely that we will have access to the necessary technology than will younger students. What I do see as a potential issue for adult learners is a resistance to new technological tools, such as what I felt when first finding out that we must use a blog instead of the message board that I am used to utilizing in my coursework.
So despite how this turns out, I am interested in using the blog in the classroom. This should prove to be an exciting journey and I look forward to making my blog entries more interesting as the weeks progress.
On another note, does anyone know if we are encouraged to embed images, videos, etc...into our blog posts? And if so, what types of materials are we going to be covering?
I guess this goes to show that I am not really sure how a blog and an education can really go together in a creative way that fits each student's learning style.
Technology makes us vulnerable. This is a hard lesson we often learn in inconvenient ways. I think about Dr. Kang's directive to not post identifying information in our blogs if we do not want others outside of the course to know our personal information. His advice implies that our use of the blog for educational reasons places us in a space of vulnerability outside of the classroom. While I do not see this as being an issue for many adult learners, I do see this as a major issue in classrooms with younger students who may not be quite as cognizant of, or even care about, security risks to their person if they divulge too much personal information over the internet.
Outside of vulnerability, blogs also requite access to technology, something which may not be available to everyone. However, as adult learners it is more likely that we will have access to the necessary technology than will younger students. What I do see as a potential issue for adult learners is a resistance to new technological tools, such as what I felt when first finding out that we must use a blog instead of the message board that I am used to utilizing in my coursework.
So despite how this turns out, I am interested in using the blog in the classroom. This should prove to be an exciting journey and I look forward to making my blog entries more interesting as the weeks progress.
On another note, does anyone know if we are encouraged to embed images, videos, etc...into our blog posts? And if so, what types of materials are we going to be covering?
I guess this goes to show that I am not really sure how a blog and an education can really go together in a creative way that fits each student's learning style.
Works cited
Santos, A. (2011). Blogs as a learning space: Creating text of talks. Contemporary Issues in Education Research, 4(6), 15-19.
Wittle, S. (2007). That's online writing, not boring school writing: Writing with blogs and the Talkback
Project. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 51(2), 92-96.
Hello Wendy.
ReplyDeleteI think you brought up an interesting point in your blog entry this week about privacy concerns in blogging and how those might differ between adult and younger students. As you state, and as our readings from Witte (2007) and Oravec (2002) reinforce, the ubiquitous public access to blogs exposes students in a new way to privacy concerns. I believe you are correct in stating that the awareness of this risk is probably not as big an issue in an adult classroom versus in a elementary education setting. With the intense media attention on issues like cyber-bullying, I do think that many adults are more aware of the privacy risks when composing on the internet.
We read so often about the technology skills gap for adult learners. Carter (2011) warns, for example, that there is a, "disconnect between students' adept use of technology in their personal lives and their lack of savvy with digital media in the classroom" (p.95). But, you highlight here an aspect of online learning where adults are likely to be more savvy than younger students.
One area of privacy that I think is of particular concern for adult learners is that of plagiarism or appropriate recognition for one's unique contributions to the body of knowledge in a field. Do you think that posting new knowledge, ideas or research on a blog or other internet based product creates the risk of improper use and citation? How might we address that in academia?
Carter, T. J. (2011). Blogging as Reflective Practice in the Graduate Classroom. In K.P. King & T. D.
Oravec, J. A. (2002). Bookmarking the world: Weblog applications in education. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 45(7), 616-618).
Witte, S. (2007). "That's online writing, not boring school writing": Writing with blogs and the Talkback Project. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. 51(2), 92-96.
Holly,
DeletePlagiarism definitely comes to my mind when considering a blog or a wiki simply because the internet often seems to have fairly lax rules and expectations. As a matter of fact, I was recently taunted by one of my FB friends for citing the book, author, year and page number for a quote I put as my status...she remarked, "Only a Ph.D."
Wendy great posting! You did address some important issues in regards to privacy issues. However, in regards to the vulnerable statement, this is something that cannot be over stated. In many ways, we are wrapped around the internet’s little finger. As an adult taking online courses it seems to be a challenge to incorporate new technological ideas and place them into the classroom discussion. As an instructor, I look at the technological advances and just wonder how I can get that into my classroom.
ReplyDeleteWith blogging and internet courses, “blog entries offered glimpses of those moments of triumph and challenge...” (Coombs, Goodwin & Fink, 2013). Each assignment has their own signal of importance. One thing that everyone must learn that whatever footprint you decide to leave on the internet, it stays. This isn’t for so much the adult learners but for our younger learners who are not as wise in some decision made.
Coombs, D., Goodwin, K., & Fink, L. S. (2013). Give them something to talk about: The role of dialogue in mentoring relationships. English Journal, 102(3), 58-64. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.er.lib.k-state.edu/docview/1287039131?accountid=11789
I think that even adults forget that the footprint they leave the internet is indelible and can have an effect on the present and the future. Oftentimes I think this comes not from carelessness but from ignorance of the technology they are dealing with....However, younger people (I think of my 21-year old son) are much more technically savvy at a young age and can actually exercise more caution than some adults.
DeleteThanks for sharing your blog with us Wendy. I too found your insight on privacy very interesting, however I would have to disagree just a little. You state “While I do not see this as being an issue for many adult learners, I do see this as a major issue in classrooms with younger students who may not be quite as cognizant of, or even care about, security risks to their person if they divulge too much personal information over the Internet.” I agree with you, but adults may not be cognizant of all the security concerns as well. I feel that in today’s society when using the Internet, our security goes as far as our most current log-on session. If we get probed once or twice during a session we become alarmed, but if one probes us over the course of a month or to, we tend to let our guard down and give people we don’t know more information about ourselves. This happens with blogs, online dating and other social media sites.
ReplyDeleteRyan,
DeleteWhile I see your point, I know that I don't acknowledge people that I don't know on social media. I maintain high privacy settings on my social media for this reason (and because as a teacher I don't feel students need to be privy to my private life beyond what I share in the classroom). However, if you see my response above to John's comment I did rethink my stance on vulnerability.
Wendy your blog looks really great! I enjoyed reading it very much! I agree that this is an exciting adventure to undertake! I also feel a little like the student Wittle (2007)described as feeling that writing a blog is different than writing in a classroom setting and our classroom is the message board. I found I was writing more like I was having a conversation and less like an encyclopedia!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement that blogging makes us vulnerable. Anyone who posts anything on the internet is vulnerable. Not only is our personal information vulnerable, but also our work. I feel that a major issue with blogging is plagiarism. According Sukhova (2012),some feel that if a person is not an expert, then it is ok to steal their words, however, hopefully we all agree that this is not true. Sukhova said it very well when she stated, "Anyone worth quoting is worth citing." We all know that plagiarism happens, but there isn't really any internet police out their tracking blogging theft.
Have you ever known for any of your blog work to be plagiarized? How would you hold blog thieves accountable?
Wittle, S. (2007). That's online writing, not boring school writing: Writing with blogs and the Talkback Project. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 51(2), 92-96.
E. Sukhova. (2012)Is Social Media Creating a Plagiarism Problem (+ Infographic). [Weblog comment]. Retrieved from
http://www.convinceandconvert.com/blogging-and-content-creation/is-social-media-creating-a-plagiarism-problem-infographic/.
I am not sure if anything that I have written has ever been plagiarized...On one hand, I would be indignant since it was my work, but on the other hand, I am realistic enough to know that if I choose to publish something on the internet I am taking that risk. I think it is a personal choice and a sense of awareness that we have to choose to accept when we create work and publish on the WWW.
Delete